Freedom ←→ Purpose

Freedom and Purpose are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Freedom in this case, being ultimate freedom. This means freedom from anything, freedom of mind, freedom of body, freedom of spirit; this means death. When we are dead that is when we are free from everything even free from living. Purpose in this case being ultimate purpose. This means being in service towards something, being in service to a meaning higher than oneself; sacrificing one’s individuality to become one with their purpose.

However we need a balance of both in our lives. We need freedom in order to relax and pursue leisure and our true desires, and we need purpose in order to fulfill and pursue meaning and our true calling. Too much freedom means that we are free from anything, free from meaning, at this stage of freedom life has no meaning, and thus our purpose is served and we die. Too much purpose and we don’t feel like ourselves, we feel exhausted, we feel trapped and suffocated, life has been reduced to only one meaning, we lose ourselves to our purpose sacrificing our individuality to become one with our purpose.

The Cycle

Freedom and Purpose operate in a cycle. When life rewards you with freedom, with leisure, with vacation, you get lost in your pleasures and desires and are able to refuel your soul. However not long after this freedom starts to lose value and reduces itself into boredom. Here in this state of boredom you are dying to do something meaningful, dying to have purpose, dying to work. In this day and age we have too many things to do, when we are bored it is not because we nothing to do, it because we have nothing purposeful to do. We truly desire to get every bang for our buck when it comes to our time, we only want to do activities that mean something or have purpose. Soon we settle on a purpose, a meaningful activity that we can engage in and find meaning for why we live our lives. We then commit to this purpose, letting it devour our very mind and body. We are committed to living out this purpose and use all our energy to live it out. Soon we start to lose ourselves, who are we, and what we enjoy. We eventually sacrifice ourselves for our purpose, we get burnt out, and we get bored. Thus we go back to freedom and the cycle continues.

Thus we need both freedom and purpose to give value to each other. Too much vacation and you can’t wait to go back to work, too much work and you can’t wait to get a vacation. That is the simplest way I think about freedom and purpose

Freedom = Vacation

Purpose = Work

The Spectrum

Everyone lies somewhere on this Freedom ←→ Purpose spectrum.

Some people are very freedom orientated meaning that they do whatever they want and just do whatever they want. As the scale approaches closer to ultimate freedom they have no discipline and find themselves indulging in pleasure: drugs, junk food, TikTok, and sedentary lifestyle. These people often find themselves diving deep into hedonism, and find themselves finding ultimate freedom very soon in the form of death.

Some people are very purpose orientated, meaning that everything they do is serving some higher purpose, a goal, a dream. As the scale approaches closer to ultimate purpose they give up their lives in order to reach this purpose. They will isolate themselves and focus on their goal. They will obsess over their work, and let it leak into their personal lives. They will lose their friendships, their relationships, and their family. They will turn into their purpose, making it their only personality trait. Soon they will have nothing but this purpose, living not for themselves but a purpose.

Freedom = Instant Gratification = Mind Focused on the Present

Purpose = Delayed Gratification = Mind Focused on the Future

Create Your Balance

We all need both Freedom and Purpose in our lives.

We need freedom to indulge in the arts, the science, the academia. To explore and have various hobbies. to be expressive in our fashion, to try new things, be experimental. To be spontaneous, to be random, to be able to reflect, to be able to love, to be able to be empathetic, to be unique, to be able to change, to be able to grow

We need purpose to give life meaning, to give value to the world, to be fulfilled. To give order, to give sense, to be given safety. To be predictable, to create routine, to create discipline. To be able to achieve our goals, to be able to live our dreams, to be able to challenge ourselves, to be able to lead, to be able to belong, to be able to change, to be able to grow

What do you need more in your life?

Freedom or Purpose

Thanks for reading, let’s grow together 🙂